The recent Sports Illustrated cover story on Manny Ramirez testing positive for performance enhancing substance abuse really made me stop and think.
Where is the general public getting their information on supplements? The Internet? The local health food store? Late night infomercials? Maybe. When it comes down to it, how many people actually rely on doctors to advise them on supplements? And if Manny Ramirez couldn’t count on his doctor to know exactly what was in the medication “he (the doctor) thought was OK,” what about the rest of the world?
As a board certified physician and former OB/GYN, I was never once required to take a class or learn the first thing about supplements throughout all my years in medical school. Not one class. And yet, research proves that qualified supplementation of nutrients and vitamins can ensure a long and healthy life, fighting off many diseases including cancer. We spend billions of dollars each year on chemotherapy drugs to treat cancers, but our health care providers don’t have the time to educate and to emphasize to the patients the steps in prevention of disease. Doctors are trained mainly to treat diseases, not to prevent them. Supplements and vitamins definitely play a role in prevention of disease. Unfortunately medical education about the role of supplements in this country is sorely lacking.
This was one of the motivating factors for me to move out of mainstream medicine and into the preventative side of health care. I’m grateful for that wake-up call because it’s only now that I’m TRULY making a difference in the quality and health in the many lives of the patients I gladly serve!
Baseball and other sports got it right when they took steps to ban performance enhancers. It’s time the medical community got educated on the benefits – and potential pitfalls – of the supplements their patients are taking (with or without their doctor’s advice). I’m thinking now might be the time for supplement regulation.
What about you?
Dr. Michael Lee
BodyLogicMD Miami
Bioidentical Hormone Therapy Specialist
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi7IGeDzhNo]